1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to material carrying vehicles and more particularly to a shopping cart having modular storage compartments which are separable from one another to facilitate transportation of goods contained therein.
2. Description of the Related Art
In supermarkets, shoppers typically collect and carry items for purchase in a shopping cart provided by the store. These shopping carts are relatively expensive to purchase and often occupy valuable floor space when they are not in use. Often, shopping cans are the object of theft and loss since shoppers are commonly permitted to wheel them to their automobiles to unload their groceries.
Attempts have been made to reduce the need for store-owned shopping carts. An example of an early user-owned shopping cart is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,118,553 which issued to Rosenzweig. This shopping cart includes a removable basket and a collapsible frame assembly. It is limited however, in its capacity to carry a significant amount of goods, and the frame assembly can be cumbersome to transport since it is fabricated from tubular steel. Later attempts at providing a user-owned shopping cart are described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,774,929 which issued to Stanley, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,492,388 which issued to de Wit.
Still another expense associated with supermarket management, is the provision of grocery bags which enable shoppers to transport their purchased items from the supermarket to their homes. Many supermarkets offer shoppers both plastic bags and craft paper bags to carry their groceries. In addition to the costs associated with providing shopping bags, their disposal puts pressure upon waste management facilities, thus adversely effecting our environment.
In view of the cost and disadvantages facing supermarket owners and shoppers, it is an object of the subject invention to provide a shopping cart which can be owned by the customer, and brought to and from the market and used therein, with sufficient capacity to carry a large number of items for purchase.
It is a further object of the subject invention to provide a user-owned shopping cart having several modular compartments which are separable from one another so as to enable a shopper to carry purchased items from the supermarket without the need of shopping bags of any type.
It is still another object of the subject invention to provide a user-owned modular shopping cart which is inexpensive to manufacture.